Upon becoming Director General of the BBC in 2000, Greg Dyke vowed to change the organisation and “cut the crap”.

The Football Association have been warned. The man who once took on the Government over the fallout from the Iraq war is not someone to be trifled with.

It is nine years now since he departed the Corporation amid the controversy over the infamous sexed-up dossier. Dyke was forced to resign after strong criticism over the BBC’s editorial and management procedures were found to be “defective” by the Hutton Inquiry. Today, when it was announced he will become the FA’s new chairman in succession to David Bernstein, marks quite a turnaround in his fortunes.

Despite the media storm at the time, Dyke remained popular among staff under his guidance — some organised protests and even paid for a full-page advert in the Daily Telegraph defending their former boss.

But there must have been doubts as to whether he would return to the kind of prominence he will receive when he takes up his new job on July 13.

In the intervening period, Dyke has been relatively low profile, even becoming Chancellor of York University — a role which today saw him bound for a flight to Beijing and therefore unavailable for interview.

He is unlikely to speak publicly about the position until his nomination is approved by the FA Council next month, even though that is surely a formality.

Dyke could be forgiven for needing time to compose himself. It is understood Dyke was only formally approached this week as a possible successor to Bernstein, who steps down in July after losing a vote to change a rule that stipulates FA chairman must retire at 70.

Dyke must leave his role as non-executive director at Brentford and succeed an individual who has proved very popular during his two-and-a-half year tenure.

Dyke has a track record as a likeable and approachable leader in a career that has included key roles at the BBC, Channel 4, London Weekend Television and Channel 5.

But what the FA need is someone with a clear vision of how to govern English football and rise above the vested interests which so often dilute its effectiveness.

As an avid football fan with experience of boardroom machinations at Brentford and as a director of Manchester United in the late nineties, Dyke’s views on the game are well-sourced.

In an FA statement this morning, he was quick to outline his priorities. “I am very excited to take on this role,” he said. “At the grass roots seven million people play football every weekend, women’s football is booming and the ambition is for it to be the second biggest team participation sport in England behind only the men’s game, we have the best known, most successful league in the world with the Premier League and the Football League is so much stronger than it was eight years or nine ago.

“Having said that I am a big supporter of financial fair play which, in both the Premier League and the Football League, will have a big impact and, hopefully, bring a degree of financial sanity to the professional game. I do see one of the most important tasks for The FA are, over time, to make thoughtful changes which will benefit the England team. The FA have made a great start by rebuilding Wembley and developing great facilities at St. George’s Park but it is essential that the FA find a way to ensure that more talented young English footballers are given their chance in the professional game at the highest level.”

Dyke does not have much time. He turns 66 in May and the rule that did for Bernstein still exists, meaning the FA will not have one chairman in place for a full World Cup cycle up until 2018.

Quite what he will make of the questionable administrative records of FIFA and UEFA is another matter, too. But his support of financial fair play is genuine and deep rooted.

As managing director of LWT in 1990, Dyke saw the potential of live football and helped set up a meeting with the biggest five clubs in England at the time — United, Arsenal, Tottenham, Liverpool and Everton — to begin talks that would ultimately lead to the formation of the Premier League.

Reflecting on that time in an interview from January this year, he said: “I remember the five clubs decided they would only break away if they could get the FA onside. The FA so hated the Football League they were just happy to shaft them.

“It was ridiculous; they could have had anything — a league of 16 clubs, players released for England, a quota of English players . . . I’m surprised the FA haven’t tried to assert itself since a bit, but there are moments and — like the RFU when rugby became professional – they missed theirs.”

The FA have gradually ceded power to the Premier League ever since and as the organisation celebrate their 150th anniversary this year, they face an ongoing challenge to position themselves as a powerful authority at home and abroad.